A reporter caught the attention of online users after she posted photos of herself receiving a free hug while on duty.
ABS-CBN reporter Izzy Lee shared these photos on Twitter on Thursday, April 28.
“So this happened at work today. A free hug,” Lee tweeted.
So this happened at work today. A free hug. pic.twitter.com/dXdiv0PIpf
— Izzy Lee (@_izzylee) April 28, 2022
The photos showed how a stranger went near Lee and then hugged her as she was reporting at the side of a street.
In the last frame, the stranger seemed to pose in front of the camera during the brief hug.
Lee’s tweet blew up on the micro-blogging platform.
So far, it earned 53,000 retweets, 3,900 quote-retweets and 500,000 likes.
In the quote-retweet, several users found the interaction cute, heartwarming and wholesome.
“Cute,” one Twitter user said with a pleading emoji.
“I think this is such a scary moment but at the same time her smile melts all those feelings,” another user tweeted.
Others quipped that they also need a warm hug.
“I badly need a hug right now,” one Twitter user said.
In the replies, some Filipinos shared their own experiences with people living on the streets were rather unfortunate.
“Ako naman binigyan ko nang bread. Kinuha naman. Yun nga lang hinampas sakin sabay sabi ‘sa’yo na yan kuripot’ sabay lakad (crying emojis) ako pa nahiya,” one user said.
“Bakit ako nasuntok sa braso. Still the most traumatic thing that happened to me,” another user commented.
Lee’s post also reached the online forum r/Philippines and Facebook.
Kapamilya Online World, one of the pages that shared Lee’s post on the same day, gathered 241,000 reactions, 2,500 comments and 18,000 shares on the platform.
The Reddit post got 209 upvotes so far.
In the discussion section, some users shared their thoughts on why most people tend to avoid people on the streets.
“Bihira yung ganyan haha. Mostly nananakit e,” one Reddit user said.
“People avoided them for hygienic reasons,” another online user said.